A STUDY OF THE CRYSTALLIZATION OF AMORPHOUS Cu₆₀Zr₄₀ ALLOY

The crystallization of the amorphous Cu₆₀Zr₄₀ alloy has been studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning Auger microprobe (SAM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The DSC trace showed that the sample exhibited a glass transition at 750 K and a strong exothermic effect beginning from 782 K. An enrichment of the element Zr and significant oxygen contamination in a zone near the surface to a depth of about 10 nm were revealed by SAM in the analysis of surface competition and depth profiles of the Cu₆₀Zr₄₀ sample. Also, the change of concentration ratio of Ca to Zr in amorphous matrix at the clean Cu₆₀Zr₄₀ surface as a function of annealing temperature was examined in detail, and it was found that the concentration of Zr at the surface is slightly higher than that in the bulk until 780K and that the concentration ratio of Cu to Zr in matrix has an abrupt increase in the temperature range of 780-800K. The observations by high resolution TEM revealed the appearance of cluster-like regions of approximately 1.5-2.0 nm in size just before crystallization and they distributed randomly throughout the sample. This phenomenon is analogous to the results obtained using field ion microscopy (FIM) by the present authors. The microstructural changes of the sample daring heating show the gradual crystallization of the amorphous matrix.